Tape packaging machine



April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE l7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 INVENTOR. I 77101145 6. A/'SfALL April 24, 1962 E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE INVENTOR. filo 14s 6'. A/esmLL 17 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 3 PUT Filed Jan. 26, 1960 IN V EN TOR.

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TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1960 1'? Sheets-Sheet 5 Ti=liE HHWW I39 IN V EN TOR.

filo/14 S 6. L/SS TALL A rrO/pNEYS April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 INVENTOR. Ear ms E. Ns'smu April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 INVENTOR. filo/v45 6. A/esmu April 24, 1962 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 T. E- WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR. 720M415 E. 11/155714 BY %W W A fI'OQA/EYS T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE April 24, 1962 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 ullL an O gN ONN ODN T 19 rlL 00w 05 T N mfi LI IN V EN TOR. 7740104 k/esm L 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 w; 5 5 0w ma .5 5 mq INVENTOR. Flam/a6 5. L/ESIALL April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL 3,030,749

TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1960 17 SheetsSheet 12 IN VEN TOR. filo/m6 Wear-ALL By ji rmy v05 April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 INVENTOR. filo/v46 A/G'STALL ,4rrve/vc'y5 April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1960 l7 SheetsSheet 15 l I 105 1 III] April 24, 1962 T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 16 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 INVENTOR. filo/was 5. M'STALL T. E. WESTALL TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE April 24, 1962 17 Sheets-Sheet 17 Filed Jan. 26, 1960 United States Patent 3,030,749 TAPE PACKAGING MACHINE Thomas Edison Westall, Marion, NIL, assignor to The American Thread Company, New York, 'N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 26, 1960, Ser- No. 4,659 14 Claims. (Cl. 53-120) This invention relates to machines suitable for use in packaging relatively thick tapes or ribbons and more particularly to machines suitable for packaging so-called Velcro tape.

Recently, there has been developed in the textile field a pair of tapes which adhere tenaciously one to the other. One of the two tapes is provided on one face with a myriad of hooks which extend in a substantially perpendicular direction from the face of the tape. The other of the two tapes is surfaced on one side with a large number of miniature loops. Pressing the looped surface of one tape against the hooked surface of the other tape results in a very strong bond between the two tapes. Sets of tapes of this type are presently being employed in various forms of garments to provide the means whereby the particular garment may be opened and closed taking the place, for example, of a zipper. Such tape is presently being fabricated and sold under the trademark Velcro.

In order to commercially distribute Velcro tape to the buying public, it is necessary to package it in a form which can be easily handled. A suitable package of the Velcro tape comprises two of the interengageable tapes assembled together face to face as a folded length of tape strip and bound by a strip of banding material bent around said folded tape strip.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to furnish a means whereby Velcro tape may be suitably packaged.

A machine produced in accordance with the present invention measures the tape components of the Velcro tape each in a predetermined length and unites them face to face, cuts the tape components to form a united tape strip of such length, folds the cut strip approximately in half, measures a banding material in a predetermined length, cuts a strip of banding material of suchlength, and bands the folded Velcro tape strip with the strip of banding material, thus providing a Velcro tape package.

In general, the machine of this invention provides means for feeding and metering like lengths of a plurality of tapes and superposing them toform a multi-layer tape strip, means for cutting or severing the tape strip into a predetermined length, means for folding the cut tape strip, means for feeding and metering banding material, means for cutting or severing a predetermined length of the banding material and applying it to the folded tape strip and means for bending the cut length of banding material around the folded tape strip so as to embrace and package the latter.

The invention will be more readily understood when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a machine produced in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational View of the tape cutting and feeding assembly of the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the assembly shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an elevational view partly in section of "ice the tape feeding, cutting and folding assemblies of the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a detailed elevational view partly in section of the tape folding mechanism of the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view of a portion of the tape folding mechanism of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 9 is an end view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of the clamping jaw assembly employed in the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 12 is an elevational view partly in section of the clamping jaw mechanism employed in the machine of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 13 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is an elevational view of the banding strip bending mechanism;

FIGURE 15 is an end view of FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 16 is a detailed plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 17 is a plan view of that portion of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 16, at a subsequent stage in the operation;

FIGURE 18 is a plan View of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 19 (Sheet 5) is an elevational view of a cam and its associated linkage as employed 'in the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 20 is an elevational view of another cam and its associated linkage as employed in the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 21 is an elevational view of another cam and its associated linkage as employed in the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 22 (Sheet 5) is an end view of the cam assembly shown in FIGURE 19;

FIGURE 23 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism used to feed banding material as employed in the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 24 is a plan view of the assembly shown in FIGURE 23 at a subsequent point in the operation;

FIGURE 25 is a detailed perspective view of a portion of the assembly shown in FIGURE 23;

FIGURE 26 is a detailed perspective View of another portion of the assembly shown in FIGURE 23;

FIGURE 27 is a detailed perspective view of a further portion of the assembly shown in FIGURE 23;

FIGURE 28 is an elevational view of the assembly shown in FIGURE 23, including the driving cam and associated mechanism;

FIGURE 29 is an elevational view of the banding material cutting knife and associated linkage as employed in the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 30 is a chart showing the coordination of the cams employed in the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 31 is a schematic drawing of the electrical and pneumatic connections associated with the machine of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 32 is a perspective view of a packaged Velcro tape strip produced by the machine of FIGURE 1.

With respect now more particularly to the drawings, a machine in accordance with this invention is shown in perspective in FIGURE 1. The rolls and 176 of the two different Velcro tape components are mounted on a stand 177 so that each may rotate and release its tape component as required by the demands of the machine. With respect to roll 175, the tape 178 leaving said roll is routed over stationary roller 179 and rotatable roller 180 mounted on spring-loaded arm 181. The tape 178 then passes beneath stationary roller 182 and thence into the machine. Using this type of feeding mechanism has been found to be desirable in view of the fact that the tape feed into the machine is intermittent.

Thus, when the machine calls for a certain length of tape, spring-loaded arm 181 moves in such a direction that the tape component 178 which is fed into the machine is that which was previously held between stationary rollers 179 and 182. The same type of feed as is described in connection with the tape component from roll 175 is embodied in feeding the Velcro tape component 183 from roll 176 into the machine. This means of feeding the tape components 178 and 183 prevents overrunning of rolls 175 and 176 and thereby avoids fouling of the tapes emanating therefrom.

As described above, the Velcro principle involves the use of two different types of tape components, one of which is equipped with a myriad of hooks, whereas the other is provided with a large number of loops. The tape components are fed into the machine from rolls 175 and 176 in such manner that the surfaces of the two tape components which are provided with the hooks and lops, respectively, are face to face. Thus, they become united in the machine to form a tape strip.

FIGURE 6 shows the manner in which the tape components are pulled from the rolls 175 and 176 and fed into the machine. Roller 10, constructed from or surfaced with a rubber-like material, rotates a predetermined number of revolutions as a result of being driven by an air cylinder piston, the driving linkage being described more fully below. Idler roll 11, also fabricated from or surfaced with a rubber-like material, is forced into frictional contact with driven roller 10 by proper adjustment of set screw 184. Thus, the initiation of the packaging process is the rotation of rollers 10 and 11 which unite the tape components 178 and 183, and feed a predetermined length of tape strip into the machine.

As the tape strip leaves rollers 10 and 11, it is fed through guide 17 which assures the tape strip remaining in the proper horizontal plane. The tape strip is also prevented from shifting from side to side by the shape of guide 17.

The next step in the operation of the inventive machine is the cutting of the united tape strip to form a tape strip of predetermined length. This is accomplished by the tape cutting assembly 18 shown in elevation in FIGURE 4. Cutting action is supplied by the scissorslike action of stationary knife edge 72 and movable knife edge 23. Air cylinder 19 is actuated in a manner to be described more fully below, thereby causing piston rod 20 to move in a downward direction. This motion is transmitted by link 21 which is pivotally connected to knife edge holder 22 which is pivoted about fixed point 24. In this manner, a predetermined length of the united tapes 178 and 183 is cut, resulting in the formation of tape strip 185.

The next succeeding step in the packaging operation consists of folding the cut tape strip 185 in half. Shown in FIGURE 7 is the portion of the machine which accomplishes this result. Folding blade 26 is caused to move in a downward direction, thereby making contact with the center of strip 185.. As blade 26 continues to move in a downward direction, it depresses the center of tape strip 185 as shown in phantom in FIGURE 10. This portion of the machine, after completion of the folding step is shown in FIGURE 8.

When the folding step is completed, the movable jaw 32 of clamping jaw assembly 186 moves into the locked position as shown in FIGURE 8. Pins 34 together with pins 33 hold the folded strip 185 securely and prevent any movement during the following sequence of steps.

The second phase of the packaging operation involves appropriately positioning a strip of a banding material of proper length, and subsequently bending the strip of banding material about the folded Velcro tape strip 185 so that the tape strip will remain folded after its release from the packaging machine. A source roll 187 of banding material 37 of aluminum strip of suitable gauge and Width or other desirable metal is mounted so that it may feed banding material 37 as demanded by the packaging machine. FIGURE 2, a plan view of the packaging machine shows that the feed path of banding material 37 is at right angles to the direction of feed of the Velcro tape strip 185.

As shown in FIGURES 23, 24 and 25, banding material 37 is fed from roll 187 into guide 188. Banding material 37 is fed by the action of banding material feed assembly 189 which is described in detail below. Briefly, feeding of banding material 37 is accomplished by causing arm 118 to pivot about point 126 thereby causing projection 129 on head 119 to enter one of the spaced holes 133 (FIGURE 25) in banding material 37. Arm 118 and associated linkages are then caused to move toward the folded Velcro tape strip 185 and the interlocking of projection and hole 133 causes banding material 37 to move along with arm 118. The length of travel of arm 118 is determined as described below and is made equal to the desired length of the strip of banding material 3'7 to be used in banding the folded Velcro tape strip 185.

The machine at this stage of its operation is shown in FIGURE 27. The next step consists of cutting banding material 37 and this is accomplished by the scissors action of knife edges 38 and 39. Prior to the cutting action of knife edges 38 and 39, ram head 42 which is attached to shaft 49 moves into contact with banding strip 37. This is best seen in FIGURE 24. Thus, following cutting of banding material 37, severed banding material strips 41 are held in place against the folded tape strip by head 42 as shown in FIGURE 16.

The last steps in the packaging operation involve bending severed banding strip 41 appropriately about folded Velcro tape strip 185. This sequence of steps is shown in FIGURES 16, 17 and 18. The first step in this operation involves movement of head 45 which is attached to shaft 44 toward the folded tape strip 185. As shown in FIGURE 17, this causes the extremities of arms 43 to bend the banding strip 41 about the side edges of the folded Velcro tape strip 185. Next, beveled head 46 moves toward the Velcro tape strip 183, thereby bending strip 41 as shown in FIGURE 18 to embrace the strip 183. The last step involves pinching the banding strip 41 embracing the strip 185; this is accomplished by movement of head 45 away from the Velcro tape 185 while maintaining head 41 stationary, thereby causing the extremities of arms 43 to pull inward and effect pinching of the embracing band 41 about said strip.

By appropriate movement of head 45 and beveled head 46, the above-described sequence of movement is reversed and the band enfolded Velcro tape strip 51 as shown in FIGURE 32, is released and drops onto chute 52 and thence onto the conveyor belt 53 which transports it to a next succeeding operating point.

The motivation means or central timing mechanism for most of the moving parts of this machine is provided by a series of cams AG inclusive mounted on cam shaft 62, shown in elevation in FIGURE 3 and plan in FIG- URE 2. Cam shaft 62 is driven by a rotary power means 196 (FIGURE 1) such as a one-third horsepower gear head motor. The motor 196 is connected to cam shaft 62 through gears 199 and 198 and chain 197. Motor 196 also furnishes the power for conveyor belt 53 as shown in FIGURE 1.

The cams AG employed in this machine are linked to rocker arms which are mounted on a rocker arm shaft 61, as shown in FIGURE 3. Rocker arm shaft 61 is supported by the base of the machine at its extremities and is also braced by member 195 as shown in FIG- URE 3.

FIGURES 3, 5 and 6 depict the operation of the tapes feed mechanism. Air cylinder 16 is used to produce a predetermined amount of rotation of gear 13. This is accomplished by pivotally connecting piston rod 15 to a base of gear 13 at an eccentric point 193. When air pressure is applied to cylinder 16, in a manner to be described in connection with FIGURE 31, piston rod 15 enters the cylinder for a distance as determined by appropriate adjustment of cylinder 16 by adjustment means 208. The rectilinear movement of piston 15 is thus converted to a corresponding rotary movement of gear 13. Since point 193 travels in a curved path, platform 190 on which air cylinder 16 is mounted is pivoted about point 191 to permit the end of piston rod 15 to follow this curved path.

The rotary motion of gear 13 is transmitted to gear 12 with which it is meshed. Gear 12 is connected to the axle 281 of roller 10 through overrunning clutch assembly 202. Clutch assembly 202 is so connected that rotation of gear 12 in a direction which would tend to feed tape into the machine, a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 3, causes a corresponding rotation of roller 18. Conversely, when gear 13 is driven reversely as a result of piston rod 15 moving out of cylinder 16 and returning to its normal position, which, in turn, causes gear 12 to move in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 3, overrunning clutch assembly 282 causes roller 10 to be disengaged and permits gear 12 to rotate freely.

To prevent roller 10 from continuing to rotate in the feeding direction after gear 13 has completed its movement, brake assembly 194 (FIGURE 5) is employed. Any conventional brake assembly is suitable for this purpose, such, as, for example, a wheel attached to axle 1 which is provided with a spring-loaded belt appropriately disposed to prevent overrunning of roller 10.

The sizes of gears 12 and 13, the diameter of rollers 18 and 11, and the trance of piston rod 15 are appropriately chosen to feed a tape strip 185 of desired length into the machine.

Rollers 18 and 11 are grooved to prevent damage to the Velcro tape components being fed into the machine. As stated above, idler roller 11 is caused to rotate by forcing it into frictional engagement with driven roller 10 with set screw 184. It is necessary to groove rollers 10 and 11 to avoid excess pressure on the tape components since otherwise the pressure exerted against roller 10 by roller 11 would distort the Velcro tape strip.

The operation of tape strip cutting assembly 18 is actuated by the closing of microswitch 203 which is mounted on air cylinder 16 as shown in FIGURE 3. As piston rod 15 reaches the end of its travel into cylinder 16, adjustable member 204 mounted on piston rod 15 contacts microswitch 203 and causes it to close. Referring to FIG- URE 4, the closing of microswitch 203 results in a downward movement of piston rod 20, thereby causing the Velcro tape strip to be cut. As indicated in FIGURE 4, the air cylinder 19 is pivoted about point 138 to permit the end of piston rod 28 to follow the cured path of knife edge holder 22 as the latter rotates about point 24. FIG- URE 7 shows Velcro ta-pe strip 185 just after it has been cut.

To assure the proper orientation of each Velcro tape as it is fed into the machine prior to the cutting step, guides 69, 71 and 72 are provided.

The action of a folding blade 26 is controlled by the rotation of cam B as shown in FIGURE 7. Cam follower assembly is employed to produce the appropriate rectilinear motion based on the design of cam B. As shown in FIGURE 7, yoke 56 is mounted on cam shaft 62 in a manner which permits shaft 62 to rotate independently thereof. Cam follower wheel 54 is connected to member 58 through guides 63 and 64 which pass through holes in the flanges of yoke 56. Cam follower wheel 54 is caused to follow the periphery of cam B by springs 57 mounted as shown in FIGURE 7.

Adjustable stud 204 is employed to limit the travel of the cam follower wheel on the low side of the cam B. This feature permits the travel of folding blade 26 to be adjusted without the necessity of replacing or reshaping cam B.

The direction of rotation of cam shaft 62 is counterclockwise, as viewed in the drawings. counterclockwise movement of cam B as shown in FIGURE 7 results in movement of cam follower wheel 54 away from cam shaft 62. This in turn compresses springs 57 and causes member 58 to move in a downward direction. Adjustable link 59 which is connected to member 58 also moves in a downward direction. Rocker arm 60 which is rotatable about rocker arm shaft 61 is caused to rotate in a clockwise direction by the downward movement of link 59 to which it is pivotally connected. Link 65 which is pivotally attached to the other end of rocker arm 60 is thereby caused to move in a substantially horizontal direction. Link'66 which is rotatable about fixed point is caused to move in a counterclockwise direction about this point by virtue of the motion of link 65 to which it is pivotally connected. The rotational movement of link 66 is transmitted to arm 28 through tension spring 67 and link 68. Arm 28 is pivoted about point 70 as shown in FIGURE 9 and accordingly moves in a counterclockwise direction.

As shown in FIGURE 10, folding blade 26 is linked to arm 28 by means of pin 30 and slot 29. As arm 28 moves in a counterclockwise direction about point '70, folding blade 26 is caused to move in a downward direction through guide 27. Since the path of folding blade 26, and accordingly, the path of pin 38 attached thereto, is rectilinear, slot 29 is provided to compensate for the fact that the end of arm 28 moves in a curved path.

Link 66, spring 67 and link 68 form the safety feature which protects the folding blade assembly. Thus, for example, if some circumstance precludes the downward movement of folding blade 26, the rotation of link 66 in a counterclockwise direction merely results in the expansion of tension spring 67. This safety feature thus pres vents the positive action of cam B from being exerted by folding blade 26 against any foreign object which may be preventing its normal downward movement.

Clamping jaw assembly 186 is operated by means of cam F as shown in FIGURE 12. The clamping jaw assembly 186 has three basic positions. At the stage of operation depicted in FIGURE 12, the clamping jaw is moving toward the middle position. As cam F rotates in a counterclockwise direction, cam follower wheel 73 moves downward away from cam shaft 62 thereby causing member 76 which is attached to shafts 7'7 and 78 to move in a downward direction. Adjustable link 79 moves in a downward direction and causes rocker arm 80 which is pivotally attached thereto to rotate in a clockwise direction about rocker arm shaft 61. This movement of rocker arm 80 causes link 81 to move to the left. This movement in turn is transmitted through links 82., 83 and 88 to link 91. The movement to the left of link 91, which is pivotally connected to link 89, causes movable jaw 32 to rotate about pivot point 92 and thus move toward stationary jaw When cam F, as shown in FIGURE 12, is rotated so that the follower wheel 73 is riding on the highest point of the cam, jaws 32 and 31 assume the locked position. This situation is depicted in FIGURES 8 and 11. When the jaws are in the locked position, serrated edge 35, which is attached to the lower of pins 34 pinches the folded Velcro tape. This serrated edge is used to prevent upward movement of the folded tape which might otherwise occur as folding blade 26 moves upward out of contact with the folded Velcro strip 185.

A safety feature is included in the operation of clamping jaw assembly 186. As shown in FIGURE 12, link 

